DJAMENA/YAOUNDE (Reuters) – When battle-hardened Chadian troops overran a Boko Haram camp in northern Nigeria last week, they wanted to press deep into territory controlled by the Islamist group but Nigeria refused to let them.

Having defeated al Qaeda in Mali two years ago, Chad’s military believes it could finish off Boko Haram alone. It has notched up victories that have pushed the Nigerian militants back from the Cameroonian border.

But with presidential elections this month, Nigeria is keen to press ahead with its own military campaign against Boko Haram, aiming to push it out of major towns before the March 28 ballot.

In a country proud to be a major African power, it would be an embarrassment to President Goodluck Jonathan as he seeks reelection for a smaller nation to tackle Nigeria’s security problems, diplomats say.

In their forward base in the town of Gambaru on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, Chadian soldiers displayed dozens of guns seized from Boko Haram and a burnt-out armoured vehicle painted with black and white Arabic script.

“We turned back because Nigeria did not authorise us to go any further,” army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa said.

Nigeria’s spokesman for operations in the northeast, Mike Omeri, said cooperation between Chadian and Nigerian forces has brought some major military successes and any issues would be resolved via existing command structures.

But the Chadians say there have been no joint operations between the two forces. Chad’s offer to join a Nigerian offensive to capture Baga, site of one of Boko Haram’s worst atrocities in January, was rebuffed, Bermandoa said.

Officials from Chad, Niger and Cameroon say lack of cooperation from Nigeria has for months hampered efforts to put together a regional taskforce against Boko Haram. Chad was compelled to take unilateral action in January, under a deal that allows it to pursue terrorists into Nigeria, after Boko Haram violence started to choke off imports to its economy.

With Niger and Cameroon deploying thousands of troops on their borders, blocking escape routes for Boko Haram, the tide may be turning. In what Nigeria has branded a sign of desperation, the Islamist group has carried out wave of suicide attacks and threatened to disrupt the election.

Francois Conradie, analyst with South African-based NKC Research, said that if the current offensive can be sustained, Boko Haram could quickly be driven out of the remaining towns it holds. It would, however, remain a deadly rural guerrilla force.

“All of this is good news for stability and will probably be to Mr Jonathan’s electoral advantage,” he said.

OPPOSITION CRITICISES RELIANCE ON CHAD

Many in Nigeria ask why it took so long to act. Boko Haram killed thousands last year and kidnapped many more in its six-year campaign for an Islamist emirate in Africa’s largest oil producer.

Niger, Cameroon and Chad say Nigeria neglected the uprising in its economically backward northeast, an opposition stronghold. Borno state is home to two percent of Nigeria’s 170 million people.

But in recent months, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who is running as the presidential candidate for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), has gained popularity with voters desperate for tough policies both on corruption and Boko Haram.

Amid pressure from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s electoral commission announced a six week postponement to the Feb. 14 election, to allow the army to tackle the security situation in the northeast so voting could go ahead there.

Ernst Hogendoorn, Crisis Group’s Africa deputy programme director, said the government appeared to have engineered the delay in the hope the APC would slip up or the military could boost Jonathan by defeating Boko Haram.

“Boko Haram has certainly suffered a strategic setback … Clearly this improves Goodluck Jonathan’s chances somewhat,” said Hogendoorn. “The question is do any of these forces have the ability to maintain this tempo, particularly the Chadians and to a lesser degree the Nigerians?”

With Chad already squeezed by a slump in the price of oil, its main export, the government says it can only sustain the offensive in Nigeria for a short time, diplomats say.

Buhari, however, has already criticised Jonathan for relying on Chad to push back Boko Haram, saying his government would tackle the problem alone. Many in the military and the government are keen to limit foreign involvement on Nigerian soil, diplomats say.

When Chadian forces last month entered the town of Dikwa, they were told to leave by Nigeria’s military, which said it was planning air strikes, Bermondoa said.

After Nigeria’s army retook Baga last month, Army Chief Major General Kenneth Minimah said his soldiers would recapture a handful of remaining towns before the elections, listing Dikwa as one of them. “The war is almost ended,” he said.

TENSIONS HAMPER REGIONAL FORCE

Boko Haram was long regarded by neighbouring countries as an internal Nigerian problem, but attacks in Cameroon and Niger last year prompted the regional response. Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Benin and Cameroon agreed in May to join forces against the militants.

Since then, however, distrust and misunderstandings have stymied preparations for the force, due to take effect by the end of this month. Nigeria initially sent low-level representatives to planning meetings, angering its allies.

Cooperation between Cameroon and Nigeria has been dogged by long-running border tensions, while Niger accused Nigerian troops of cowardice.

“Nigeria must get involved and honour its promise of providing between 2,500 and 3,000 to the multinational force,” said Cameroon’s defence spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck.

Cameroon has stepped up its activities since July, when Boko Haram attacked Kolotafa, the hometown of its deputy prime minister, killing dozens and kidnapping his wife.

The government has boosted its security forces in northern Cameroon from 700 to around 7,000.

“We have to do whatever it takes to make sure the sect does not occupy any town in Cameroon,” said Colonel Joseph Nouma, in charge of Operation Alpha, the mission against Boko Haram.

However, Nouma said he has orders not to enter Nigeria, and Cameroon has denied Nigerian troops the right to pursue insurgents into Cameroon.

Along its 400 km (250 miles) border with Nigeria, Cameroon has created 14 new bases, with heavy artillery batteries. It has also deployed surveillance drones, a senior intelligence officer said.

Another senior Cameroon military figure said they were attempting to choke off Boko Haram’s revenues, including the trade in fuel with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

“All of this looks to be paying off,” the officer said, with no incursions since mid-February.

DJAMENA/YAOUNDE (Reuters) – When battle-hardened Chadian troops overran a Boko Haram camp in northern Nigeria last week, they wanted to press deep into territory controlled by the Islamist group but Nigeria refused to let them.

Having defeated al Qaeda in Mali two years ago, Chad’s military believes it could finish off Boko Haram alone. It has notched up victories that have pushed the Nigerian militants back from the Cameroonian border.

But with presidential elections this month, Nigeria is keen to press ahead with its own military campaign against Boko Haram, aiming to push it out of major towns before the March 28 ballot.

In a country proud to be a major African power, it would be an embarrassment to President Goodluck Jonathan as he seeks reelection for a smaller nation to tackle Nigeria’s security problems, diplomats say.

In their forward base in the town of Gambaru on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, Chadian soldiers displayed dozens of guns seized from Boko Haram and a burnt-out armored vehicle painted with black and white Arabic script.

“We turned back because Nigeria did not authorize us to go any further,” army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa said.

Nigeria’s spokesman for operations in the northeast, Mike Omeri, said cooperation between Chadian and Nigerian forces has brought some major military successes and any issues would be resolved via existing command structures.

But the Chadians say there have been no joint operations between the two forces. Chad’s offer to join a Nigerian offensive to capture Baga, site of one of Boko Haram’s worst atrocities in January, was rebuffed, Bermandoa said.

Officials from Chad, Niger and Cameroon say lack of cooperation from Nigeria has for months hampered efforts to put together a regional taskforce against Boko Haram. Chad was compelled to take unilateral action in January, under a deal that allows it to pursue terrorists into Nigeria, after Boko Haram violence started to choke off imports to its economy.

With Niger and Cameroon deploying thousands of troops on their borders, blocking escape routes for Boko Haram, the tide may be turning. In what Nigeria has branded a sign of desperation, the Islamist group has carried out wave of suicide attacks and threatened to disrupt the election.

Francois Conradie, analyst with South African-based NKC Research, said that if the current offensive can be sustained, Boko Haram could quickly be driven out of the remaining towns it holds. It would, however, remain a deadly rural guerrilla force.

“All of this is good news for stability and will probably be to Mr Jonathan’s electoral advantage,” he said.

OPPOSITION CRITICIZES RELIANCE ON CHAD

Many in Nigeria ask why it took so long to act. Boko Haram killed thousands last year and kidnapped many more in its six-year campaign for an Islamist emirate in Africa’s largest oil producer.

Niger, Cameroon and Chad say Nigeria neglected the uprising in its economically backward northeast, an opposition stronghold. Borno state is home to two percent of Nigeria’s 170 million people.

But in recent months, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who is running as the presidential candidate for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), has gained popularity with voters desperate for tough policies both on corruption and Boko Haram.

Amid pressure from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s electoral commission announced a six week postponement to the Feb. 14 election, to allow the army to tackle the security situation in the northeast so voting could go ahead there.

Ernst Hogendoorn, Crisis Group’s Africa deputy program director, said the government appeared to have engineered the delay in the hope the APC would slip up or the military could boost Jonathan by defeating Boko Haram.

“Boko Haram has certainly suffered a strategic setback … Clearly this improves Goodluck Jonathan’s chances somewhat,” said Hogendoorn. “The question is do any of these forces have the ability to maintain this tempo, particularly the Chadians and to a lesser degree the Nigerians?”

With Chad already squeezed by a slump in the price of oil, its main export, the government says it can only sustain the offensive in Nigeria for a short time, diplomats say.

Buhari, however, has already criticized Jonathan for relying on Chad to push back Boko Haram, saying his government would tackle the problem alone. Many in the military and the government are keen to limit foreign involvement on Nigerian soil, diplomats say.

When Chadian forces last month entered the town of Dikwa, they were told to leave by Nigeria’s military, which said it was planning air strikes, Bermondoa said.

After Nigeria’s army retook Baga last month, Army Chief Major General Kenneth Minimah said his soldiers would recapture a handful of remaining towns before the elections, listing Dikwa as one of them. “The war is almost ended,” he said.

TENSIONS HAMPER REGIONAL FORCE

Boko Haram was long regarded by neighboring countries as an internal Nigerian problem, but attacks in Cameroon and Niger last year prompted the regional response. Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Benin and Cameroon agreed in May to join forces against the militants.

Since then, however, distrust and misunderstandings have stymied preparations for the force, due to take effect by the end of this month. Nigeria initially sent low-level representatives to planning meetings, angering its allies.

Cooperation between Cameroon and Nigeria has been dogged by long-running border tensions, while Niger accused Nigerian troops of cowardice.

“Nigeria must get involved and honor its promise of providing between 2,500 and 3,000 to the multinational force,” said Cameroon’s defense spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck.

Cameroon has stepped up its activities since July, when Boko Haram attacked Kolotafa, the hometown of its deputy prime minister, killing dozens and kidnapping his wife.

The government has boosted its security forces in northern Cameroon from 700 to around 7,000.

“We have to do whatever it takes to make sure the sect does not occupy any town in Cameroon,” said Colonel Joseph Nouma, in charge of Operation Alpha, the mission against Boko Haram.

However, Nouma said he has orders not to enter Nigeria, and Cameroon has denied Nigerian troops the right to pursue insurgents into Cameroon.

Along its 400 km (250 miles) border with Nigeria, Cameroon has created 14 new bases, with heavy artillery batteries. It has also deployed surveillance drones, a senior intelligence officer said.

Another senior Cameroon military figure said they were attempting to choke off Boko Haram’s revenues, including the trade in fuel with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

”All of this looks to be paying off,” the officer said, with no incursions since mid-February.

DAKAR/MONROVIA/CONAKRY, Feb 27 (Reuters) – In the marble
atrium of the Mammy Yoko hotel in Freetown, manager Nuno Neves
has spotted something he has not seen since the Ebola virus
struck Sierra Leone nine months ago: foreign businessmen.

The Radisson Blu chain opened the four-star hotel
in April to cater for investors in one of Africa’s
fastest-growing economies. A month later, Ebola crossed the
border from Guinea and those investors fled.

For months, Sierra Leone was cut off from the world amid
panic at the worst recorded outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever,
which has killed more than 9,500 people in Sierra Leone, Guinea
and Liberia and infected over 23,500.

Nine of the 11 airlines serving Freetown, including British
Airways, suspended flights. Miners pulled out foreign
staff, and banks declined credit for local companies.

To stave off closure, Neves cut working hours and salaries.
What saved the 170-room hotel was an influx of foreign aid
workers in October.

But with infection rates slowly declining, investors have
begun to talk about post-Ebola reconstruction. Neves has noted
the return of businessmen not seen since the hotel opened.

“They don’t bring their teams. They just come to see what is
going on and then they leave,” he said, adding that ‘business as
usual’ remains far off. “This will be a year focused on Ebola.
First the fight to end Ebola and then reconstruction.”

For Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, the timing is
terrible. As they struggle with Ebola, they have been hit by a
commodities slump: the price of iron ore, the largest export
from Liberia and Sierra Leone, roughly halved last year.

Between Ebola and the commodities rout, the World Bank
estimates the three countries will lose at least $1.6 billion in
output this year, or over a tenth of their combined GDPs.

Sierra Leone, the worst affected by Ebola, has also been
hardest hit economically. From 11 percent growth in 2013, its $5
billion economy is forecast to contract 2.5 percent this year.

Its two largest employers, Africa Minerals and
London Minerals, have halted iron ore production following the
price slump. With more than half Sierra Leone’s 6 million people
living in poverty, Ebola has destroyed a further 180,000 jobs as
it ravaged agriculture and services, the World Bank said.

Clive Dawson, head of the British Chamber of Commerce in
Sierra Leone, is working with companies to identify investment
opportunities in agriculture, health and construction that could
create urgently needed jobs.

“The world climate has changed completely,” he said. “But
for the ones who are brave, the opportunities are enormous
because the government is bending over backwards to help
investors.”

‘SITUATION DRAMATICALLY IMPROVING’

Not all mining investors have been deterred by the price
fall. London-listed Sable Mining signed a deal last
month to send iron ore from a planned mine in Guinea by rail to
Liberia’s port of Buchanan.

“Ebola hasn’t made it easy. We haven’t been able to travel
to Liberia for some time,” CEO Jim Cochrane said. “But the
situation is dramatically improving and these countries will be
much better prepared in the future.”

Liberia weathered Ebola more quickly than its neighbours,
thanks to massive U.S. support. It now has only a handful of
cases and its economy is forecast to grow 3 percent this year,
despite ArcelorMittal scrapping plans to triple iron ore output
due to low prices.

Chinese firms, which last year stopped major road projects,
have restarted construction.

Nearly a fifth of Liberians laid off during Ebola have
returned to work in the last month, the World Bank said this
week. But it warned that food insecurity remained rife.

Martha Wessh, 35, a mother of three, said her family eats
once a day since her husband was laid off by a logging firm. “We
rely on friends and relatives to survive,” she said.

Global charity Oxfam has called for a post-Ebola “Marshall
Plan” to support basic services like health and sanitation, and
provide jobs and cash for families hit by the crisis.

Between lost taxes and higher spending, Ebola countries face
massive deficits. According to the United Nations, Liberia is
headed for a deficit of more than 7 percent of GDP this year.

EBOLA AGGRAVATED EXISTING PROBLEMS

Attempts are being made to tackle a collapse in credit which
has hit small businesses hard. In Sierra Leone, the British
government and Standard Chartered have launched a $50 million
lending scheme, while in Guinea the World Bank’s private lending
arm, the IFC, will invest $30 million this year.

The World Bank expects Guinea’s economy to shrink 0.2
percent this year before returning to growth in 2016.

Major investments — from Rio Tinto’s Simandou iron
mine to a bauxite project led by Mubadala and Dubai Aluminium –
have been slowed after miners repatriated foreign staff.

Emmanuel Sossouadouno, head of the economic studies at the
finance ministry, said Guinea’s main problems were structural:
“We don’t produce enough electricity and our infrastructure has
deteriorated … Ebola just aggravated an existing situation.”

With President Alpha Conde seeking reelection this year, he
wants to jump-start growth. He is pressing ahead with the sale
of offshore oil blocks and an auction for the northern half of
Simandou, despite litigation with former owner BSG Resources.

The government faces difficulties in securing investment in
mining and oil, said Africa Risk Consulting’s West Africa
Manager, Trent Baldacchino. “But in 2016, Guinea should get back
on its economic trajectory.”

MAO, Chad (Reuters) – Under the glare of the Saharan sun, a U.S. special forces trainer corrects the aim of a Chadian soldier as he takes cover behind a Toyota pick-up and fires at a target with his AK47 — a drill that could soon save his life.

Chad is sending hundreds of troops to fight Boko Haram in neighboring Nigeria as part of a regional offensive against the Islamist group, which killed an estimated 10,000 people last year in a campaign to carve an Islamic emirate from the north of Africa’s largest oil producer.

At the end of the exercise, a U.S. trainer shows the 85 Chadians the paper target peppered with bullet holes – many of them outside the drawing of a gunman. “Not so great,” he says and orders them to do a round of push-ups — in which American, Italian and Belgian trainers all take part, laughing.

The annual ‘Flintlock’ counter-terrorism exercises are a decade-old U.S.-sponsored initiative to bolster African nations’ ability to fight militant groups operating in the vast ungoverned spaces of the Sahara with training.

“Even before the conflict with Boko Haram, we were preparing to face a group like them,” said the commander of the Chadian troops, Captain Zakaria Magada, whose Special Anti-Terrorist Group (SATG) is equipped and trained by the United States.

“Boko Haram is just a militia of civilians. We are an organized army. They cannot face up to us.”

Chad’s armed forces are among the most respected in the region – a reputation forged during decades of war and rebellions, and honed in a 2013 fight against al Qaeda-linked Islamists in the deserts of northern Mali.

But many of its troops are still raw. In the first days of Flintlock, trainers from the U.S. army’s 10th Special Forces Group walked them through basics like adjusting the sights of their weapons and properly cleaning them.

The trainers say there is a limit to what can be taught in 3 weeks of Flintlock but the objective of the exercise – which this year groups 1,300 troops from 28 countries – is building relationships among African nations and Western partners.

Efforts to construct a regional African taskforce to tackle Boko Haram have been hampered by lack of cooperation between neighboring countries. With that in mind, planners built into this year’s Flintlock a cross-border scenario about tackling a militant group modeled on the Nigerian militants.

“It is all about African nations finding African solutions to their problems,” said Major General James Linder, head of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa. “We cannot do that for them.”

While France has deployed some 3,000 troops in Africa to combat Islamic militants, the U.S. military has retained a lighter footprint: providing equipment and training to allies while participating in a few targeted missions, such as the hunt for Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony.

Amid calls for the U.S. army to become more directly involved, Linder says its focus on capacity building is part of a long-term vision. By 2050, Africa is forecast to have 2.7 billion people – a third of the world’s population, he says.

“The global community needs stable countries in Africa and that can only happen through African nations themselves,” he said.

‘NIGERIAN ARMY JUST NEEDS WEAPONS’

The United States stepped up military cooperation with Nigeria following the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in the village of Chibok in April. However, Washington’s refusal to sell Cobra attack helicopters, amid concerns over human rights abuses by the Nigerian military, angered some in Africa’s most populous nation.

“If we had enough guns and ammunition, the Nigerian army could finish Boko Haram in a week,” said a member of Nigeria’s elite Special Boat Services (SBS) attending Flintlock. He said his unit, which has fought against the Islamist group, had received previous training from the U.S. navy SEALs.

As Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin prepare to launch their 8,700-strong taskforce next month, the United States is providing intelligence and equipment. A major shipment of helmets and bullet proof vests arrived in Cameroon this week.

U.S. special forces trainers, however, stress that equipment is not the most important factor in fighting insurgents.

“It’s not about the weapons you’re carrying, it’s about the individual,” said the U.S. major in charge of coordinating Flintlock, emphasizing the need to build relationships with the local population to isolate militant groups.

In the nearby town of Mao military doctors provide free medical treatment to locals and vets treat their animals. After Boko Haram attacked a village just 100 km away on the shores of Lake Chad this month, locals say they welcome the military presence.

Yet a decade after Flintlock’s launch, some question the effectiveness of Washington’s focus on training. Critics point to the presence of U.S.-trained Captain Amadou Sanogo at the head of the 2012 coup that plunged Mali into chaos, or allegations of rights abuses by some African partner armies.

But General Abdraman Youssouf Mery, commander of Chad’s Special Anti-terrorist Group, said his troops had made good use of the Flintlock training during the 2013 war in Mali.

“The population in Mali were terrified of giving us information but we used what we had learnt from Flintlock: we helped them and gave them medical assistance,” he said. “Slowly but surely, we won them over.”

DJAMENA/MAIDUGURI, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Nigerian warplanes
bombed training camps and equipment belonging to Islamist group
Boko Haram in the northeast’s Sambisa forest on Thursday, the
military said, adding momentum to an assault meant to crush the
rebels also involving neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

“The death of a large number of terrorists has been recorded
while many others are also scampering all over the forest,”
defence spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade said, later
adding that an attack was underway on parts of Gwoza, the town
where Boko Haram first declared an Islamic state last year.

After a year in which Boko Haram seemed to be gaining
ground, seizing swathes of territory, killing thousands of
people and kidnapping hundreds of mostly women and children, the
tide may now be turning against them, as neighbouring countries
plagued by cross-border attacks have weighed in.

Niger, Chad and Cameroon are seeking to pin down Boko Haram
within Nigeria’s borders ahead of a ground-and-air offensive by
a regional task-force due to start from the end of next month, a
senior Niger military official said.

Sambisa gained notoriety last year when more than 200 girls
kidnapped by Boko Haram from a secondary school in nearby Chibok
were taken there. Some of them escaped the forest shortly
afterwards but most have remained in captivity ever since.

Aerial surveillance of the forest has not revealed their
whereabouts. If some or all are still in the forest, air strikes
against the rebels holding them captive could have grave risks.

Military chiefs will meet in Chad’s capital N’Djamena next
week to finalise plans for a 8,700-strong task-force of troops
from Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin and Niger to fight the
Islamists, although it is unclear how good coordination will be.

“PUSH THEM BACK”

Nigerian forces backed by air power killed more than 300
Boko Haram fighters during an operation to recapture 11 towns
and villages since the start of the week, the military said on
Wednesday, though it was not possible to corroborate this and
the military has been accused of exaggerating enemy casualties
and understating its own and those of civilians.

Successes in pushing back Boko Haram would come at a welcome
time for Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces an
election on March 28. The poll however also provides a strong
motive for the government and military to talk up successes.

The election had been delayed by six weeks on the advice of
the military and Jonathan has been repeatedly criticised for not
doing enough to tackle the rebels.

“We will rout Boko Haram. Our capacity to achieve results in
the northeast has increased sufficiently,” Jonathan told the
navy in Lagos on Thursday, commissioning four new warships. “Our
men and officers are doing well in the northeast and we must
conduct the elections as scheduled.”

The risk to civilians from air strikes was highlighted on
Tuesday, when an aircraft bombed a border village in Niger, the
Niamey government said. A Nigerian security source said on
Thursday that the plane was Nigerian and that the pilot had
mistaken the civilians for fleeing insurgents.

“This worrying incident must be promptly investigated by
both Niger and the (multinational force),” Corinne Dufka of
Human Rights Watch said, urging the force to “ensure the ongoing
offensive is carried out in a way that protects civilians”.

The militants fighting to revive a medieval Islamic
caliphate in northeast Nigeria for the past six years remain the
biggest threat to Africa’s top economy and the whole region.

Boko Haram struck a village in southeast Niger overnight,
killing three people including the local chief and wounding
three others before troops drove them out.

“All we are doing right now is stopping Boko Haram from
entering Niger,” Colonel Mahamane Laminou Sani, director of
documentation and military intelligence of Niger’s armed forces
told Reuters in N’Djamena. “If they attack our positions we push
them back a certain distance and Nigeria pushes from the other
side to contain the situation”.

(Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja, Tim Cocks in
Lagos, David Lewis in Dakar and Abdoulaye Massalaki in Niamey;
Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Giles Elgood)

DJAMENA, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Niger, Chad and Cameroon are
seeking to pin down Boko Haram within Nigeria’s borders ahead of
a ground-and-air offensive by a regional task-force due to start
from the end of next month, a senior Niger military official
told Reuters.

The Islamist group, which has killed thousands of people in
a six-year insurgency in Nigeria, has fought fierce battles with
the three countries’ armies in southern Niger and northern
Cameroon, near Nigeria’s borders, in recent weeks.

Chadian forces have made incursions into Nigeria to push
back the jihadist fighters, hundreds of whom have been killed.

Military chiefs will meet in the Chadian capital N’Djamena
next week to finalise strategy for the 8,700-strong task-force
of troops from Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin and Niger, said
Colonel Mahamane Laminou Sani, director of documentation and
military intelligence of Niger’s armed forces.

“All we are doing right now is stopping Boko Haram from
entering Niger: if they attack our positions we push them back a
certain distance and Nigeria pushes from the other side to
contain the situation,” he said, on the sidelines of the annual
U.S.-sponsored ‘Flintlock’ counter-terrorism exercises in Chad.

“There are initiatives by our countries to make sure Boko
Haram doesn’t get out of control, but we have a deadline of
end-March to put the joint force into practice,” he told Reuters
late on Wednesday.

Highlighting the cross-border threat, militants attacked
Niger overnight, killing three before they were driven back.

The force’s first commander will be a Nigerian and the
position will then rotate annually among members, Sani said.

The implementation of the force has been delayed by tensions
between Nigeria and Cameroon over the right to pursue militants
across the border into each other’s countries, sources said.

Niger and Chad already have agreements in place covering
that with each other and with Nigeria. Nigeria and Cameroon will
be under pressure to iron out their differences.

“This should be the last meeting, I think. We don’t have any
choice,” Sani said. “If we don’t go to find Boko Haram, they are
going to come and find us.”

US INTEL SUPPORT

Niger’s military has carried out air strikes against Boko
Haram positions and used ground forces to mop up the survivors,
Sani said.

Sahelien.com, a regional news website, reported raids by
Niger’s troops who entered the Nigerian town of Marara on Feb.
15 and air strikes on Damasak on Feb. 16. A security source said
the reports were accurate but gave no further details.

Sani denied the Niger air force was responsible for an
attack on Tuesday that killed at least 36 civilians at a funeral
in the border village of Abadam.

A local mayor said he believed a Nigerian military plane was
responsible. Nigeria has denied this and Niger has said it is
investigating.

Air power will play a key role but ground troops will then
used to neutralise survivors in the wooded and mountainous
terrain occupied by the Sunni jihadist group, Sani said

“Information on their location needs to come from human
sources first, then you send technological resources to check
it, and you maintain observation on them until air strikes
arrive,” he said.

Asked whether the U.S. military could help with drone
intelligence on fighters’ movements, he said: “That is already a
reality. They help us in that sense.”

“This is no longer a issue of national security for Nigeria,
it’s a question of regional and international security,” he
said. “If Nigeria implodes then the whole of Africa will feel
it.”

DJAMENA (Reuters) – The U.S. military will share communications equipment and intelligence with African allies to assist them in the fight against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, the commander of U.S. Special Forces operations in Africa said.

West African military commanders have long complained that cross-border operations against Islamist groups, from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali to Boko Haram in Nigeria, have been obstructed by lack of compatible communications equipment, making it hard to swap information and coordinate.

Major General James Linder said that, as part of the annual U.S.-sponsored “Flintlock” counter-terrorism exercises this year in Chad, the United States would introduce technology allowing African partners to communicate between cellphones, radios and computers.

The RIOS system would allow soldiers in the field to transmit photos from a remote location in the Sahel immediately to a central command room and can also precisely pin-point the coordinates of personnel, a U.S. military official said.

Boko Haram killed an estimated 10,000 people last year in its campaign to carve an Islamist emirate from northern Nigeria.

On Tuesday the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, appeared in a video monitored by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group in which he threatened to disrupt upcoming Nigerian elections and condemned regional governments for not following Sharia law.

Shekau also claimed responsibility for an attack on the northeastern Nigerian city of Gombe on Saturday, which local officials said was repulsed.

Amid growing international alarm, the four nations of the Lake Chad region – Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria – plus neighbouring Benin are preparing a joint task-force of 8,700 men to take on the Sunni jihadist group.

Chad’s military, which played a leading role in a French-led campaign that ousted Islamist groups from northern Mali in 2013, has already led attacks against Boko Haram positions in Nigeria’s border regions.

“The Lake Chad nations are battling Boko Haram and we have a vested interest in that group of nations’ collective success … What Boko Harm is doing is a murderous rampage, about brutality intolerance and subjugation,” Linder said in an interview late on Monday.

“Our national leadership has been very clear that more was going to be done … There is an ongoing discussion on how will we provide additional tools, techniques, and material to partner nations.”

At the Flintlock exercises, the U.S. military will also be introducing a “cloud-based” technology to allow African allies to quickly share intelligence across borders, such as mapping information on the location of potential targets, Linder said.

The U.S. assistance in improving communications between regional armies was welcomed by Brigadier General Zakaria Ngobongue, the Chadian director of the Flintlock exercises.

“We need support in terms of intelligence and logistics, above all in communication because the equipment we have comes from different countries, and their support will make our task much easier,” he told Reuters. “The Americans have aerial capabilities that we do not have.”

The ninth edition of Flintlock, grouping 1,300 soldiers from 28 African and Western nations, will emphasise the importance of troops fostering strong relations with local communities to gain intelligence on insurgent groups.

Linder said that African armies were well placed to gather this kind of information, but the United States could share other kinds of intelligence to boost the success of operations against Boko Haram.

“It’s the things that we find from flying over a target and having an FMV, a full motion video, or being able to take pictures, or being able to do a different type of geo-spatial analysis or predictive analysis on the enemy,” he said.

Washington’s long-term goal was to enable African nations to be sufficiently trained and equipped to face their own security challenges, Linder said.

“By 2050, one-third of the global population will be on the African continent,” he said. “The global economy and the global community need stable countries in Africa and that can only happen through African nation states themselves.”

DJAMENA (Reuters) – The United States military will provide communications equipment and intelligence to help African nations in the fight against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, the commander of U.S. Special Forces operations in Africa said.

West African military commanders have long complained that cross-border operations against Islamist groups, from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali to Boko Haram in Nigeria, have been obstructed by lack of compatible communications equipment, making it hard to swap information and coordinate.

Major General James Linder said that, as part of the annual U.S.-backed ‘Flintlock’ counter-terrorism exercises this year in Chad, the United States would provide technology allowing African partners to communicate between cellphones, radios and computers.

The system also incorporates a translation function that would allow commanders in francophone countries like Chad to communicate by message with English-speaking officers in Nigeria, a U.S. military officer said.

Boko Haram killed an estimated 10,000 people last year in its campaign to carve an Islamist emirate from northern Nigeria. Amid growing international alarm, the four nations of the Lake Chad region — Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria — plus neighbouring Benin are preparing a joint task-force of 8,700 men to take on the Sunni jihadist group.

Chad’s military, which played a leading role in a French-led campaign that ousted Islamist groups from northern Mali in 2013, has already led attacks against Boko Haram positions in Nigeria’s border regions.

“The Lake Chad nations are battling Boko Haram and we have a vested interest in that group of nations’ collective success … What Boko Harm is doing is a murderous rampage, about brutality intolerance and subjugation,” Linder said in an interview late on Monday.

“Our national leadership has been very clear that more was going to be done … There is an ongoing discussion on how will we provide additional tools, techniques, and material to partner nations.”

At the Flintlock exercises, the U.S. military will also be introducing a Cloud-based technology to allows African allies to quickly share intelligence across borders, such as mapping information the location of potential targets, Linder said.

The ninth edition of Flintlock, grouping 1,300 soldiers from 28 African and Western nations, will emphasise the importance of troops fostering strong relations with local communities to gain intelligence on insurgent groups.

Linder said that African armies were well placed to gather this kind of information, but the United States could share other kinds of intelligence to boost the success of operations against Boko Haram.

“It’s the things that we find from flying over a target and having an FMV, a full motion video, or being able to take pictures, or being able to do a different type of geo-spatial analysis or predictive analysis on the enemy,” he said.

Washington’s long-term goal was to enable African nations to be sufficiently trained and equipped to face their own security challenges, Linder said.

“By 2050, one-third of the global population will be on the African continent,” he said. “The global economy and the global community need stable countries in Africa and that can only happen through African nation states themselves.”

DJAMENA, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Chad launched a U.S.-backed
counter-terrorism exercise on Monday with 1,300 soldiers from 28
African and Western countries, billing it as a warm-up for an
offensive against Nigeria’s Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram.

The “Flintlock” manoeuvres unfolded as Chad and four
neighbouring states prepare a task force to take on Boko Haram,
the biggest security threat to Africa’s top oil producer Nigeria
and an increasing concern to countries bordering it.

The Sunni jihadist group killed an estimated 10,000 people
last year in its drive to create an Islamic emirate in northern
Nigeria.

Boko Haram has escalated cross-border attacks in recent
weeks in the Lake Chad area, where Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and
Niger meet. On Monday, it attacked a Cameroon military camp.

The annual exercises, which began in 2005, aim to improve
cross-border military cooperation in the Sahel, a region prey to
al Qaeda-linked and home-grown Islamists, separatist insurgents
and criminal gangs.

“This exercise to a large extent can be considered a warm-up
to enable our special forces to learn techniques in the fight
against terrorism,” Chadian Brigadier General Zakaria Ngobongue,
director of the exercise, said in a speech at a ceremony
launching it.

More than 250 U.S. troops will take part in the exercise
that includes intelligence-sharing, training for patrols, desert
survival techniques, airborne operations and small-unit tactics,
a U.S. military spokesman said.

To improve communications among regional armies, he said,
the U.S. military will leave communications equipment behind
after the exercises end on March 9.

Weak armies, poor communications and regional rivalries have
hurt efforts to improve cooperation in the Sahel. The 2012
occupation of Mali’s north by separatist and Islamist forces
underscored the region’s fragility.

Chad’s battle-hardened military played a major role in a
French-led offensive to liberate northern Mali in 2013, but
Islamist militants still carry out attacks against a U.N.
peacekeeping mission in the region.

“What we want is to learn to work together more effectively
in fighting terrorism,” said Burkina Faso General Gilbert
Diendere. “With Boko Haram, we have found that a single state
cannot do it.”

Diendere said African nations needed greater access to U.S.
hi-tech, such as drones. “They have the technological means and
we have the human ones because we are on the ground. We need
both of those to win this war.”

DAKAR (Reuters) – African countries want to extend a new catastrophe insurance fund, which made its first payout of $25 million this month, to include protection against epidemics in the wake of the devastating Ebola outbreak.

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) agency, a specialized body of the African Union, launched a scheme last year to insure against natural disasters. It is an effort to break Africa’s reliance on foreign aid and address the impact of climate change by using innovative financial techniques.

The ARC paid $25 million in its first year of operations to Senegal, Mauritania and Niger to mitigate the effects of a severe drought in the arid Sahel region south of the Sahara — well above the $8 million in premiums paid by those countries.

The other African nation to take out a policy, Kenya, paid $9 million but received no insurance payment.

Richard Wilcox, the ARC’s director general, said that its success so far had encouraged 12 countries to sign up for policies for the second year.

African states, he said, have also approached ARC to develop insurance against epidemics after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed more than 8,800 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — severely damaging their economies.

“The scale of the Ebola crisis in those three countries was a wake-up call to everybody,” Wilcox said, and his agency was working with virologists and other experts to design a system of coverage.

“Technically, this is much harder than the weather risk because with weather we have 30 years of reliable data. Disease outbreaks are much rarer.”

The World Bank estimates the three countries hardest-hit by Ebola will lose $1.6 billion in economic output this year. Mining companies have suspended expansion plans, agricultural production has slumped and tourists have avoided the region.

ARC was capitalized using $200 million from the British and German development institutions. That money will be paid back without interest in 20 years time, allowing the ARC to offer below-market premiums to African states.

By pooling disaster risks across east and west Africa, which have uncorrelated rainfall patterns, the ARC is also able to undercut commercial insurers. On top of drought coverage, the fund will offer cyclone and flood insurance next year.

By making use of reinsurance, ARC was only liable for the first $15 million in payments this year — meaning that it received $2 million more in premiums than it paid out. On an average year, it would expect to do even better, Wilcox said.